Because of increased security concerns many home owners have a home security system. In addition, many home owners have a variety of machines for receiving information services, such as a cable receiver box, several telephones, an answering machine, a caller ID box, a home Local Area Network (LAN), and a dial up connection to the internet. Unfortunately, only minimal integration has occurred between security systems and these information services. A number of additional features could be provided to a home owner if these services were integrated.
Thus there exists a need for a home gateway system that can integrate the security and home automation features with the information services already found in many homes.